So Edmonton is lacking their starting goalie...now what do they do? They have two options, and neither option was good enough to get them into the playoffs (hence why Rollie The Goalie was brought in). Both goalies are young, and when it comes to playoff experience, neither of them really have any. Conklin played the final few minutes last night, and gave up a goal (and a weak one at that). Markannen at times this season looked good, but at times, he didn't. If I was MacT, which I'm very glad I'm not at the moment, I think my money would be on Markannen. This guy has been around longer than Conklin, and should play well enough to keep the Oilers in this series.
This morning I recieved several calls and emails asking if I still felt the Oilers were going to win the cup. I do. In a series like this, Cam Ward or Dwayne Roloson was not going to be the difference. Last night, nine goals were given up, which is hardly a goaltenders battle. Carolina has a little more veteran leadership, while Edmonton has Chris Pronger, who gets his own category. Markannen could play as well as Ward, or Ward could play as well as Markannen. I don't see this series coming down to goaltending. Before last nights game, I said Oilers in 6, and I'm sticking with it.
Just finished up a Q & A with Lyle Richardson from Spectors Hockey. It is five questions based entirely on possible player movement. I have about three or four Q & A's in the works. You'll see them all around the launch of the new site. Lyle's will launch with the site, and you'll get one or two on draft weekend. All completed Q & A's will be up before July 1st, as you know I asked every single person I talked to about their predictions for this offseason.
Finally, a lot of confusion going around right now about who is and who isn't a UFA. On Eklunds top 75 UFA list, two players he listed are NOT UFA's. Scott Thornton is under contract in San Jose for next season, while Martin Biron is a RFA, not a UFA. Afinogenov and Briere are both RFA's as well, not UFAs. Our Free Agent Tracker has them as UFA's, but it lies. I think everyone is confused by which age groups are UFA's and which age groups are UFAs. Remember : The age doesn't drop to 25 until summer 2007. The Free Agent Tracker on the new page is fully up to date, so your just going to have to wait another week! The site is pretty much ready, we're just waiting for the Oilers to win the cup so we can show off the next step in Hockeyleaks' life. Have a good day everyone
